>Dear Colleagues, > >My core facility is considering adding turbo sorting to our list of >services. We currently have a FACStarPlus from BD, and we've been told this >instrument can be upgraded to add the turbo sort module. We're interested >in surveying those of you who have done this to find out what kind of >results you've had. Are you happy with this upgrade? What kind of problems >did you have, and were they prohibitive? Were you able to do normal, basic >sorting as well as before the upgrade? Would you have been better off with >an instrument originally built with the TS module (Vantage SE)? Also, for >those of you who have a Vantage SE, have you been happy with instrument as a >whole? Is it worth the cost? > >Any input will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and >consideration. > >JodiL. Kroeger > > >Jodi L. Kroeger >Coordinator, Flow Cytometry Core Facility >Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute >12902 Magnolia Drive >Tampa, Florida 33612 >Office: (813) 979-6705 >Lab: (813) 972-8400 ext. 2005 >Fax: (813) 979-6700 >kroegerjl@moffitt.usf.edu Hi Jodi, You could always take a look at Cytomations MoFlo high speed sorter. This instrument can sort at high speeds. I generally sort at around 20,000 events/sec and get good purity >97% and yield 75% - 80% without the loss of fluorescence that some TS people have had. The fastest I have gone to date is 71k events/sec but got (not surprisingly) poor yield at this rate. I operate the sorter at 60psi and a droplet formation at 100,000 per sec. I can sort at normal speeds without any problems. The MoFlo has a modular design and can be easily set-up and adapted to your experimental needs. For example, each laser is independently focused and mounted on an industry standard optical bench. The electronics are all housed in an electronics rack and are easily accessible, -no bolted down box covering them. It is worth mentioning the electronics in a bit more detail here. They are modular in design, and work in parallel. This is what gives the MoFlo an advantage over it's high speed competitors in my mind. Each detector has a dedicated log/lin amp and ADC so no need for multiplexing the signals. I have had a MoFlo for a year and a half now and I am very pleased with it. It does have some faults however, e.g., the software compensation is not very good, but Cytomation are working on that as we speak. The company themselves are: a) Structurally flat, so you can talk to who you need to talk to without a huge effort. b) Give quick responses to queries. c) Very knowledgeable about their product. Hope this helps. Andy. Andy Riddell PNAC Division
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